Our House

Introduction

In the summer of 2013, Solares founders (and life partners) Tom and Christine put their money where their mouths are. They bought, designed, gutted, and rebuilt their own home in Toronto’s Roncesvalles neighbourhood. The finished product is an energy-efficient, three-bedroom home with a basement rental suite – a welcome change from the original, dark and leaky hundred-year-old home.

This major renovation transformed an existing West Toronto house into a healthy and sustainable home and rental suite. The main floor has been completely opened and highly efficient building systems have been installed. The house is now equipped with brand new insulation and windows, as well as healthy, sustainable, and beautiful interior finishes, and a clever, open-concept design.

The previous home had many qualities that they valued. It was close to parks, schools, and shops on Roncesvalles Avenue. It was walking distance to the Solares office, and though the home lacked a backyard, a spacious yard wrapped around the front and east sides of the house. A large tree sits in the front, and a detached garage is located on the eastern edge of the property line.

Two main considerations in this overhaul were energy efficiency and efficient use of space. The goal was to renovate the existing brick structure, but the small property and tight budget gave little possibility for adding space. As such, the finished building footprint stands at only 450 sq.ft. per floor. The strategic, open-plan design fully optimizes the space, with naturally bright communal rooms, one full bathroom, one powder room, and plenty of built-in storage.

The finished house boasts an EnerGuide rating of 83, a huge improvement from the building’s pre-renovation rating of 38, as well as an impressive 84 percent reduction in energy use. The house is equipped with brand new insulation, an innovative plumbing system, and a custom HVAC system that incorporates in-floor heating, a small combination boiler, an ERV unit per dwelling unit, and a ductless mini-split tied to the ERV ductwork for air conditioning. Two condensing dryers, one in each dwelling, do double duty: while drying clothes they also provide additional space heating in the winter.

The house acts as a physical example to family, friends, clients and neighbours that even a small “starter home” renovation can be sustainable, and affordable. Tom and Christine now give tours to potential clients, for firsthand experience on how comfortable a high performance house can be.

EnerGuide Rating: 83

Before: 38

Press:

“As sustainable architects, we wanted to put our money where our mouths are and make our own home a showcase of what we can do. We designed our renovation to be a space that is smart, relaxing, beautiful, and the most energy efficient home we could possibly afford. It was a huge success – we reduced our home’s annual energy usage by 84%! Now it feels like our cozy little nest. It’s modern without being overly serious: an urban cottage with soft, warm touches.” – Christine and Tom

Design

The house is two storeys tall. The main floor was completely opened, the stair was moved from the centre to the back of the house, and a small powder room was added on the stair landing. The second floor was configured with a master bedroom, a kids’ bedroom and playroom, and a full bathroom with laundry. The basement was fully underpinned and finished as a separate, 450 sq.ft. one-bedroom rental unit for added income, with under-floor heating, sound attenuation, high ceilings and large windows.

The airy and open first floor acts as the hub of the house, with a large sitting area, a dining area, and a kitchen along the western wall. A large island adds countertop and extra table space, while also partitioning the living area from the kitchen. The front wood porch extends the living area down into the front and side yards. A patio table and a barbecue create an outdoor eating area along the side of the home, and the front yard’s lush grass provides endless opportunities for the family to play and enjoy the outdoors.

Many of the home’s products and interiors where chosen specifically for their low VOC and low to no formaldehyde levels, such as the kitchen cupboards and cabinetry. All of the faucets and plumbing systems are low-flow, and the house has also been roughed in for a grey-water system to be installed in the future. A rain barrel beside the front porch collects rain water that is used to irrigate the front lawn.

Construction

Tom and Christine were not only the designers and architects behind this project, they also acted as their own General Contractors. Working with Blue Green Group, they ensured that an energy audit was done before renovations, and multiple blower door tests were performed throughout the process, to ensure maximum airtightness of the finished project.

For insulation, 4 in. of a water-blown, closed-cell, 2-lb polyurethane foam gives an insulation value of R27 in the walls. Between the ceiling rafters, an open-cell 1/2-lb insulation, spray-in foam was applied, followed by 6 in. of polyisocyanurate board insulation above the sheathing. These make up the well-insulated shell that helps minimize the work of the mechanical systems.

The floor is equipped with in-floor heating between floor joists, which is an unconventional practice for a wood frame floor that doesn’t have a concrete topping, as it is thought to be an ineffective way to heat a house. However, with a house this airtight, no heat is lost through leaks or windows, which means the low-load in-floor heating is incredibly effective, even without the concrete topping that is usually used to add thermal mass and heat retention.

The basement was underpinned using a “keyhole” method. Essentially, soil was removed below the existing basement footing in small segments in order to keep the foundation walls from collapsing. Then, the space that was dug out under the existing walls was barricaded and filled with concrete, which was poured into the cavity from above. Then, when the concrete hardens, the barricades are removed, revealing the new segments of wall footing, flush with the existing walls.

Through this underpinning process, the basement floor was lowered by 4 ft., which resulted in an impressive finished ceiling height of 8 ½ ft. Ceilings of that height are quite rare for a basement, and are almost unheard of for a basement rental unit.

This deep energy retrofit has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an impressive 15 tonnes per year – that’s equivalent to about eleven Honda Civics on the road for a year! The airtight envelope, continuous insulation and high performance boiler – which is about the size of a backpack – make heating and cooling the home easy and efficient, with a 92 percent reduction in annual space heating over the original building.

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